Comments on: Indian Motorcycle Restarts in North Carolina

By: JOHN COLLINS

JOHN COLLINS — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 11:58:29 +0000

In late August o8 I was involved in helping move over 50 vintage Indian Manufacturing Co. products. These items included motor bikes, bicycles, motorcycles, snowmobile and an automobile,of which there are only two left in existence. A building is being remodeled to fit this purpose,on the campus of the Springfield Museum in Springfield Mass. After this moving event all involved were fed sweet corn on the cob, ribs,chicken, hamburgs and mixed vegetables. The people helping were from all over New England and myself from Wilmington, n.c. About Sept 09, the official opening of the new Indian Motor Cycle Museum is scheduled to be opened. About 35 people in all were involved with this emotional event. My wife took over 200 pictures showing all items and their arrival into the new home.

By: WALT BAUER

WALT BAUER — Sat, 17 May 2008 15:54:20 +0000

Dear Kneeslider,Here we go again with another companay that will take yet another wack at riding the coat tail name of the Smartest Machine ever built,THE INDIAN MOTOCYCLE.They’ll buy prefabed frames,aftermarket wirering harness,Hardlyableson knock off motors like 130″ S&S V Twins,or some other monsterous Frankenstine Monster shoehorned into an a abortion,with the unmistakeable front and rear fenders.Kawasaki’s Driffer 1500cc & 800cc (made from 1999 to 2006)are so far the best clone,with modern updates since the close of the Springfield MA. plant.The Drifters greatest asset being the push botton starter,for us older farts.If you want to see the history of the 1901 to 1953,Stop by Bob’s Indian/Honda in Etters,Pa.They have 10’s of thousands of parts,and the owner Bob has forgotten more the anyone could ever begin to know about the REAL INDIAN MOTOCYCLE.Bob and his son Robin are always willing to helpsome one doing a totale rebuild,to what size plugs to use.Then there’s the west coast GOD to me,A Kiwi transplant.Who can build or sell you not just 1 but 2 type of Bikes,1946 to 1953 Cheifs and a Bobber kit,built with the highest quality modern parts that have to meet his standers or they don’t sell em’.What My personal wish is for a 1941 Indian 4 cylinder. In 41 you could get a Scout(750cc),A 74CI Chief,or the Bonaville,with an 80CI engine,which was the predesesore of the ROADMASTER built from 48 to 53.I was at the Olly,Pa. meet a few years back and here it was a fellow from England which at first glance looked to be a 1941 4,but neay this fellow had built from scrach a brand new 4 with a 12 volt system,eletric starter and all.There are to many companys running with only the V twins in their minds.But the old Injun 4s were only 1000CC and you could get on US Route 1(east coast side of the country) stick her in 3rd and ride from Philadelphia,Pa. to Maine and Back with $55.00 in your pocket,and come home with $7.00 left in your walet.SOMEONE out there PLEASE make a inline 4 w/a 6 speed overdrive tranny,that anyone can work on without a computer & a PHD! Triumh has a 3 inline2300CC,why can’t an American company make a 500CC inline twin,half of a 1000CC inline4? I bid you all peace,and safe Rideing,if you face is in the wind you are my brother or sister,Walt Bauer

By: Willie Schmitz

Willie Schmitz — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 17:10:14 +0000

Good luck to them. Hopefully they’ll generate enough income to last for a while. Be nice to see something a little sportier then the skirted fender cruisers.

By: Dudel

Dudel — Sun, 30 Jul 2006 21:52:59 +0000

A better comparison is Excelsior-Henderson. There is obviously some demand for an American-made retro-cruiser but this really amounts to nibbling away at Harley’s market share. I understand some of the designers of defunct Excelsior-Henderson are working for Victory. Great plan Polaris; rather than positioning yourself as a real motorcycle company you are going the ‘nibble at Harley’ route.

Note to Polaris – my completely lay advice is build a fleet of fun, punky, wild, macho-styled bikes in the 500 to 900 range with the auto-tranny from your AVTs and promote them to the ATV consumer segment (put your ATV designers on this task and get rid of the E-H guys). This would bust open a whole new market. By the way, you are on the right track with the Vision but it needs a front sport-bike fairing.

Note to Triumph – I like the Bonneville but decided not to buy it because it is carb’ed and not enough HP for the weight. When VW decided to create a ‘modern classic’ of the Beattle they didn’t use the original air-cooled engine and flat windshield.

By: dave

dave — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 05:37:36 +0000

We were talking today about this, and the subject of the Gilroy Indians being CMC’s with fancy sheet-metal called Indians…
At least they tried to get their own motor off the ground, but they ended up just like so many other “American Others”.

Then we said “What if Indian never died in the first place?” What do you think the Harley’s and Indians of today would look like? Think about that… If H-D had to compete against another big American company, how would that have changed the accepted “American” motorcycle? Big-Bore V-Twins on sport chassis? They would be racing, and fighting for street-credibility. VR1000’s and the like would be the bikes that would be pushed to the forefront. Both companies would be forced to fight the Japanese.

I think that the new Indian should focus on this thought, much the same way Triumph has. Why is Triumph successful now? Because they created NEW motorcycles, and pushed the boundaries of what Triumph was… Now they can offer ‘Retro-Inspired’ motorcycles to recapture the heyday of the company. Personally, I looked at the ‘new’ Indian website, and was dissappointed. They’re just Gilroy Indians. The same, bland, souless bikes they tried to sell the masses just a few short years ago. Customized Harley Clones. Indian should be better than that. It should be a Great American Marque. Not just an “American Other”.